Foreign automakers struggling also

U.S. automakers landed a $17.4 billion bailout package from President Bush last week, but carmakers around the world also could use a dose of holiday cheer as 2008 winds down.

Slow sales and tight credit markets are not the sole domain of General Motors Corp., Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co., as carmakers from Stockholm to Tokyo report problems of their own in a slumping global economy.

Here are some questions and answers about the state of carmakers outside the U.S.

Q: Which foreign automakers are hurting?

A: Take your pick.

Toyota expects to lose money on an operating basis for the fiscal year ending next March. It has never reported an operating loss in the 67 years it has given such figures.

Its Japanese competitor, Honda Motor Co., expects its profit for the fiscal year ending in March to be less than a third of what it earned last year.

In Germany, BMW said its global sales slid 25 percent in November compared with a year earlier. Daimler plans to cut work hours and lengthen holidays at its domestic plants after its global car sales also fell 25 percent.